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Following the festive New Year’s Eve celebration during the early morning hours on 1/1/12, at approximately 1:42 a.m., two male victims exited a downtown bar and were walking to their vehicle parked near Ortega St. and Chapala St.

The two male victims were confronted by three male suspects whom they had never met. One of the suspects focused his attention on the victims and made a derogatory comment. The suspects then violently attacked the victims resulting in one victim suffering a broken jaw and a head injury requiring staples to close. The other victim suffered minor injuries that did not require medical attention. Based on the ongoing investigation, it appears that the suspects perceived the victims to be gay which is believed to be the motivation for the attack.

Chief Cam Sanchez wants the public to know, “That Hate crimes like these will not be tolerated and those responsible will be held accountable”. The Santa Barbara Police Department is actively investigating this assault as a potential hate crime and requests help from the public in identifying the suspects. Information related to this case can be provided anonymously. Please contact Det. Kushner at (805) 897-2345 with any information. (Attached to this press release is a video showing the three suspects committing the assault.)